Rose Levy Beranbaum’s Chocolate Chip Cookies
Servings
690grams dough
Servings
690grams dough
Ingredients
Instructions
Preheat the oven to toast the nuts
  1. (Be sure to read instructions in the headnote about Mise en Place, clarifying and browning the butter, and toasting the nuts). Twenty minutes or longer before toasting the walnuts, set an oven rack at the middle level. Set the oven at 325ºF/160ºC.
Make the dough
  1. To the bowl of the stand mixer fitted with the flat beater (remember, you’ve already added your egg as part of your mise en place), add the browned butter with its solids, the brown and granulated sugars, golden syrup, and vanilla, and mix on low speed for 1 minute.
  2. Add the flour mixture. Starting on the lowest speed, beat just until the flour is moistened. On low speed, continue beating for 30 seconds. Add the chocolate chips and walnuts and continue beating only until evenly incorporated.
  3. Divide the dough in half (about 345 grams each). Wrap each piece in plastic wrap. If the dough is very sticky, refrigerate for about 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to bake the cookies
  1. Twenty minutes or longer before baking, set an oven rack at the middle level. Set the oven at 350ºF/175ºC.
Roll the dough into balls
  1. Divide one piece of the dough into 11 walnut-size pieces (31 grams each). Roll each piece in the palms of your hands to form a 1½ inch ball. Place the balls on a cookie sheet, a minimum of 2 inches apart.
  2. Flatten the cookies to about 2 inches wide by ½ inch high. (If desired, freeze the shaped cookie dough to bake at a later time. Baking time will be about 2 minutes longer when baked from the frozen. For the ideal texture, preheat the oven to 325ºF/160ºC and then raise the temperature to 350ºF/175ºC once the cookies are in the oven.)
Bake the cookies
  1. Bake for 4 minutes. For even baking, rotate the cookie sheet halfway around. Continue baking for 4 to 6 minutes, or until the cookies are just beginning to brown on the tops. When gently pressed with a fingertip, they should still feel soft in the middle.
Cool the cookies
  1. Set the cookie sheet on a wire rack and let the cookies cool for 1 minute, until they are firm enough to transfer to a wire rack for cooling. Use a thin pancake turner to transfer the cookies to another wire rack.
  2. Shape, bake, and cool the second batch.
  3. STORE AIRTIGHT: room temperature, 2 weeks; refrigerated, 1 month; frozen, 3 months.
Recipe Notes

Rose’s Baking Pearls
• Use your favorite chocolate. My favorites are: Valrhona dark chocolate chips 52% and 60%, Ghirardelli bittersweet chips 60%, and Scharffen Berger bittersweet chunks 61%.
• Use grade AA butter, as lower quality (containing more water) will result in a lesser amount of browned butter. You will need a total of 84 to 94 grams/103 ml browned butter.

Make This Recipe Your Own
• It’s also fine to use the softened butter without browning it, but it will result in a less flavorful, puffier cookie.
• For a cookie that is crisp all the way through, bake at 325°F/160°C for 12 to 14 minutes, until set but still soft. The cookie will become firm and crisp when cool.
• Many variations work for this cookie base. You can use a mix of chocolate such as white, milk, and dark, or you can use butterscotch chips instead. You can use pecans or your favorite nuts instead of walnuts, or no nuts at all. Also, you can add ½ to ¾ cup dried fruit such as cranberries or raisins.